Spotlight on: Michael “Mirr” Luo of DeadlyKittens

Spotlight on: Michael “Mirr” Luo of DeadlyKittens

Mirr: Customer service extraordinaire, or deadly kitten? The jury’s still out.

The de facto leader of DeadlyKittens, Michael “Mirr” Luo started his Heroes career in a team called Relics. A flexible player who’s dabbled in various different roles, Mirr has an incisive understanding of the game, and is the main tank and shotcaller for the team. In between a busy schedule of scrims and work, Mirr answers some questions about his past, present, and future in Heroes of the Storm.

Please give us a short introduction about yourself and your history in HotS.

My name is Michael Luo, and I play under the name Mirr. I spent most of my teenage years playing competitive DotA, but stopped completely when I began national service. I got into HotS after coming across one of its trailers; the fact that it had most of the popular Blizzard characters piqued my interest. My first foray into competitive HotS was in a local community event, and I’ve been at it for the past two years.

You’ve been the leader of Relics for two years. What are some of the challenges you faced, and how do you feel you’ve grown from them?

We had quite a few players coming and going in Relics. In hindsight, we had a lot of differences in goals and values which we weren’t able to work out. People don’t see things in a common light right off the bat, and I could have done a better job in bringing out the best in my teammates, despite our differences.

I’ve learnt that I need to take the first step to shift my ideals in their direction first, before we could ultimately come together to reach a united front. I’m grateful that these experiences haven’t just helped with improving my in-game mechanics; they’ve also shaped me as a person and a leader.

This team split up for the Eastern Clash, only to come back together after. What were the factors leading to both decisions, and how far have you come in overcoming whatever challenges you faced which led to the split?

After the loss at Blizzcon 2016, our teammates from the Philippines wanted to try their hand at a full-Filipino lineup again. I think it was largely because of the lack of communication, both in and out of the game. We weren’t good friends back then – just a bunch of guys who happened to be playing on the same team, and it showed.

We got punished; neither of our teams qualified for the Eastern Clash, and I thought that it was a painful, but necessary lesson. It helped us realise that this was the best team we could put together; we just needed to work on our communication. So we decided to reform the team, and I think we’re much better friends now. We actually chat about non game-related stuff, which is a welcome change from the way we were before.

It’s certainly been a rough couple of years for you, and the thought of giving up on competitive gaming must have come up at some point. What’s kept you going all this while?

It’s still rough, even now. It’s a constant juggling act between financial stability, and my passion for gaming and esports. I’ve given myself a time limit for me to monetise this passion, and I’m hoping it can be a viable extra source of income for myself and the people in my life.

To find out more about the rest of his team-mates: http://zenway.sg/Deadlykittens_WhoWeAre